Baroque Women: BPER Gallery Modena Explores Femininity Through 17th-Century Art

BPER Gallery in Modena presents "La virtù e la grazia" (Virtue and Grace), a thematic exhibition exploring female representation in Baroque painting. Curated by Lucia Peruzzi, the show draws from BPER's collection and institutional and private loans, featuring works by Guido Cagnacci, Rutilio Manetti, Valerio Castello, Domenico Piola, and Alessandro Tiarini. Highlights include Cagnacci's "Sant'Agata" (ca. 1640), depicting the saint holding a plate with her severed breasts, and Manetti's "Presentazione al tempio" (ca. 1625), a silent dialogue between the prophetess Anna and the Virgin Mary. The exhibition is structured around thematic islands, juxtaposing saints, virgins, martyrs, classical heroines, and seductresses, culminating in Castello's "Allegoria dell'Abbondanza" (ca. 1659). BPER has produced tactile reproductions of Piola's "Il ratto di Europa" and Tiarini's "Rinaldo e Armida" in collaboration with Bologna's Istituto dei Ciechi Francesco Cavazza. An audioguide was created with Radio FSC-Unimore students from Fondazione Collegio San Carlo. Proceeds from the catalogue support Fondazione Vita Indipendente Onlus di Modena. The exhibition runs until June 28, 2026, at La Galleria BPER, Via Scudari, 9, Modena.